The Miss Shelby County Pre-Teen Contest is 1 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at the Shelby County Fairgrounds.

Contestants must be 8-years-old by July 1 and not have reached their 13th birthday by Oct. 31. Five finalists and a first runner-up and winner will be chosen from the standpoint of beauty, poise and personality.

Sixteen Shelby County girls will compete in the Miss Shelby County Teen pageant at the fair Tuesday. The winner will compete in the Miss Teen Kentucky County Fair pageant. The contestants, 13- to 16-years-old who all attend Shelby County High School, are judged on beauty, poise and personality.

The contestants must have reached her 16th birthday by Oct. 31 and shall not have reached her 22nd birthday by Oct. 31 of the year when the contest is held. Contestants will be judged from the standpoint of beauty, poise and personality.

At 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, they will compete in shorts attire, followed by formal attire at 7:30 p.m. There is also a private showing in bathing attire for judges only.

The Kentucky Horseshoeing School in Mount Eden will be the subject of an episode of America's Heartland, a national PBS television program. The program was filmed at the school May 29.

The half-hour show will feature the school sometime in August; the exact date has not yet been released.

Steve Riggs, videographer for America's Heartland, said the program targets an urban audience to educate it on America's agriculture. Originally produced by KVIE, a local PBS affiliate in Southern California, the show is now in its eighth season.

Nick Wauiro, a student at Our Lady of Guadalupe Academy in Simpsonville, grinned as he accepted a certificate and a check for $125 for winning a poster contest.

The poster, which depicted many hands linked together, was the winner of the Peace Poster Contest, sponsored by the Simpsonville Lions Club.

Officials from the club, including Jim Janes, secretary, Chuck Danison, district governor, and Lois Janes, vice president, were on hand at the academy Friday morning to present the cash award and the Pin of the Year to Wauiro in front of his classmates.

"I can't believe I have my sunglasses on," said Susan Travis, as she opened the ceremony Friday night for the Relay for Life event held at Shelby County High School.

The rain, that had fallen earlier that day, made the field too wet and campsites were moved to the SCHS back parking lot.

"We've really been blessed," continued the chair of the Relay for Life committee in Shelby County, as she spoke of the 'can do, won't take no' attitude. "We have to celebrate, remember and fight back," she said about the cancer that people that night were fighting to find a cure.

The streets of Bagdad were filled last Saturday as the community celebrated the 16th annual Bagdad Days. While rain and cooler temperatures may have kept some people away on Friday night, the bright sun and cloudless sky helped to ensure a large crowd on Saturday.

Some of the crowd favorites on Saturday included the community parade, the cornhole tournament, the inflatable games, the mechanical bull and the food.

"The challenge of history is to recover the past and introduce it to the present." David Thelen

Themed "This Place Matters," The National Trust for Historic Preservation is sponsoring the fourth annual National Preservation Month - a celebration that encourages every city around the country to appreciate its unique heritage and preserve its history.

As this photo collage shows, a tour of Shelbyville offers plenty of history to appreciate.

In Shelbyville, the following activities are available throughout May:

The Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) State Championship will be Tuesday and Wednesday, May 6-7, at the Lexington Convention Center and Rupp Arena. The championship event is open to the public from 1- 8 p.m. May 6.

Elvis, the bloodhound, has one of the shiniest coats in the county. He ought to, he gets plenty of eggs to eat.

Elvis' job is guarding a flock of egg layers for his masters, Norma and John Brumley, Shelby County farmers who believe chickens can lay the golden egg and produce profits for themselves and other local farmers. The couple, and their children partners - Patrick and Jenny - are at the center of a network of farmers who are raising eggs for Rebekah Grace, the Holly Hill Inn in Midway and Wild Eggs, a Louisville restaurant that goes through 8,000 eggs a week.

Take a quick look around at the colors of early spring. They are ephemeral at best.

Even if the cold weather and anticipated freeze of the last couple of days don't do the dirty week, spring blossoms do not have a long shelf life. The pink and purple saucer magnolia blossoms in Grove Hill Cemetery were already littering the ground late last week. The earliest of the daffodil blossoms are already gone. Some of the rest are getting raggedy.

Shelby County celebrated Earth Day a little early - the original date was April 20, 1970 - but the celebration here was chance to showcase Red Orchard Park.

The park, formerly Red Orchard Farm donated to the county by Clarence Miller, will be an environmental showpiece of sorts. Hiking trails will criss cross the land. The state Division of Forestry has planted 5,000 native Kentucky trees. A prairie and fishing pond will be built later.